The NFL has lost in court regarding the 4-game suspension for Tom Brady, as the New England Patriots quarterback had his punishment overturned by Judge Richard M. Berman and he will be eligible to play in Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The league and Brady had previously been in settlement talks, but Brady was not willing to take a suspension as part of the deal. According to Pro Football Talk, the judge made the decision based on Goodell going "too far" in giving Brady punishment related to the deflated balls issue in the AFC championship game. Technically, the NFL can appeal and may do so, and that appeal would take place in the US Appeals Court, 2nd Circuit.
Berman "nullified" the suspension and he wrote in his opinion that the punishment was "premised upon several significant legal deficiencies." Berman wrote that Brady had "no notice" about the potential discipline he could have faced and he was also denied "equal access" to files. The ruling is a big one for Brady and the players and even with an appeal, this is a loss for the NFL. Many have criticized Goodell for overreaching in this situation and other situations and the judge agreed here.
The Patriots are likely happy with this decision, as ESPN writes that Brady has had some great success in his career against the teams the Pats play over the first four weeks. ESPN reports that Brady, with playoffs included, has only lost five of the 44 games he has started against the Steelers, Bills, Jaguars and Cowboys.
Check here for more on the decision and the Brady suspension.
The Deflate Gate report did not paint New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the best of light, but the evidence in that report did not really prove that Brady did anything wrong. The report came to the "probable" conclusion that Brady knew the team equipment managers were deflating footballs before the AFC Championship game against the Colts, but Brady denied any involvement.
Brady's agent previously came out and denounced the report, as he said it is based on bad evidence and that the NFL did not have official numbers for how much the balls weighed during the AFC championship game. Brady now can start the games he was previously suspended for and earlier in the summer he said that he felt the Super Bowl title was not tainted from this year and what has happened.
